The Museum of the Bible is offering a Christian nationalist vision of America’s past

(RNS) — Much attention has been paid to the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on the Smithsonian museums and on American history generally, attacks that have included, but are not limited to, the removal of signs about slavery, the reinstallation of the statue of a Confederate general in Washington and, most recently this summer, a new executive order mandating that the Smithsonian install signs outside of museum buildings “warning visitors about the ideological capture at the National Museum of American History.”

What is less well known is that alongside their claims that the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History promotes “extreme political activism,” Trump and his allies are simultaneously using the nearby “Museum of the Bible” located just yards from the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall to legitimize an alternate Christian nationalist history of America.

Just under a year ago, Trump spoke at the Museum of the Bible, praising its founders, Steve and Jackie Green, for creating a “museum to honor the most widely read book in history.” Trump even went on to say that “the Museum of the Bible had more come here than anywhere else.” Although his syntax is…